Combination ball pick-up and driver



March 12, 1935. A, A. ABRAMs 1,993,911

COMBINATION BALL PICK-UP AND DRIVER v Filed Nov. 27, 1953 A rroe/vzvPatented Mar. 12, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,993,911 COMBINATIONBALL PICK-UP AND DRIVER I Albert A. bram st. Louis, Mo. 7 ApplicationNovember 27, 1933,Serial No. 699,877

' 4 Claims. (01. 273-67) 5 time.

Among the objects of my invention is the production of a combinationdevice whereby the ball may be quite easily picked up by pressing thedevice over the ball, and without the use of movable levers, or otherparts, requiring manual setting or release. I l

A further object of the invention is the production of a device ofthekind described, in which there will beseveral jaws for springing overthe ball to pick it up, and one or more of these jaws may be formed witha striking or pushing face to engage the ball in play.

Another object of my invention is to provide a reinforcing means at theball-striking face, to strengthen the same, and at the same time act asa limit stop to abut'the respective jaw having the striking face formedas part thereof, and thus serve to limit the degree of bending of thisstriking face in the event that the ball has been struck unduly hard. I,

A still further object of my invention is the production of a device ofthe kind described, in which there will be anti-friction means .providedon some of the ball-engaging jaws, to thereby save wear and tear uponthe floor over which the game is played, and to more easily move thedevice along the floor, and further, moreaccurately guide the sameduring play.

My invention has among other objects, the production of such a device,which shall be neat and attractive in appearance, novel, simple, lightand compact, sturdy, efiicient, and durable and satisfactory for usewherever found applicable.

Many other objects and advantages of the construction herein shown anddescribed will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which thisinvention appertains, from the disclosures herein given.

To this end, my invention consists in the novel construction,arrangement, combination of parts, and uses mentioned, and moreparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing, wherein I have indicated like or corresponding partsthroughout, by like reference characters, throughout the views,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device; and

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same, with a portion broken away toshow one of the jaws in cross-section.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, wherein I have illustratedone of the preferred forms of the invention, there is shown a deviceintended to be used with a ball, such as a tennis ball or the like, inplay, and to either push or strike said ball from time to time. In orderto avoid stooping and bending, a pick-up is incorporated into the deviceas a part of the playing this space to remove the ball from the cen ralopening formed by the several jaws.

The several jaws 2, depending from thetop plate 1, are arranged inperipherally spaced or' circumferentially spaced relation, andare'arcuate or bowed in longitudinal or median crosssection, the lowerends of the jaws being radially closer to the central or longiutdinalaxisof the device than the intermediate portions of said jaws. Theball-receiving opening thus provided is preferably such that when thedevice is held above the ball ,3 and pressed down over said ball, thejaws will spread radially apart in the event that the ball is a hardone, and then contract after the ball has passed up into the centralpocket. When the ball is very soft and yieldable, the jaws will notspread (unless the material from which the device is made is extremelyresilient, ,or extra thin), the ball itself compressing momentarily asit moves relatively past the lower ends of the jaws and into the centralpocket. In either event, the ball is held therein and may be carriedthus to any desired point for removal, or may be immediately removedafter the pick-up.

The principal point to be stressed in this connection is that theresilient jaws define a circle at their lower ends, smaller than thediameter of the play ball B, but the central or ball holding space issubstantially of the same diameter as that of the ball.

A sleeve or ferrule 3 may be secured to the plate 1, to receive thelower end of the handle 4 of the toy, this securement being either byforcing the handle into the ferrule or by additional fastening means.

One or more of the jaws 2 may be provided with a playing or strikingface 5, extending in a plane substantially parallel to either theadjacent jaw or the median plane which passes through the longitudinalaxis of the member. This face 5 is formed by bending the free end of thejaw outwardly and thence upwardly or rea'rwarclly and preferably spacedfrom the adjacent jaw portion by a distance indicated by the length ofthe transversely extending portion 6, thereby giving this striking facea resilient juncture to the jaw itself, and by means of which said faceportion may move relatively to the jaw portion, either at the innermostor outermost line of securementto the jaw, or both.

The striking face is further provided with a central pocket 7, as bypressing the metal thereat, the pocket extending toward the adjacentjawto a point quite close thereto. This depressed pocket not onlyreinforces the striking face, but acts as a stop, abutting against thejaw, to limit bending movement of the striking face during play.Further, this pocket enables the ball to be struck more squarely than ifthe striking face were a flat surface. If desired, the face 5 may besuitably roughened as indicated, to further avoid inaccuracies instriking the ball.

Anti-friction means, such as the rollers 8, may be provided on a pair ofopposed jaws, and also the rear anti-friction means 9 may be provided.Thus, the device may be moved along the floor without damaging thelatter, and with greater ease. Further, when playing a game by pushingor shoving the ball, as indicated in Fig. 1, the rear wheel enables thedevice being rapidly swung around to the desired position for bestdirecting the ball to the goal. All of the antifriction means, however,are mounted outwardly of the ball-receiving portions of the jaws, so asnot to interfere with the picking up of the ball.

In playing with the ball, the latter may be either pushed, as by rollingthe device along the floor, or the ball may be struck with said strikingface, while holding the device off the floor and in any position betweenvertical and horizontal, the players not being limited to one particularangle for striking the ball.

It might be mentioned at this point, that the center of the strikingface is preferably at or slightly below the center of the ball used forplay, as it has been found that this makes for more accurate pushing ofthe ball, while the device is held on the floor.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that variousmodifications may be made in the same without departing from the spiritof the same; hence I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself tothe exactform, arrangement, combination, and construction herein shownand described, except as limited by the state of the art to which thisinvention appertains, and the claims hereto appended.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a toy of the kind described and in combination, a sheet metalmember having a plurality of circumferentially spaced, longitudinallyextending, resilient jaws, at least one of said jaws bent outwardly andthence 'back upon itself substantially parallel to the longitudinal axisof said member to a ball-striking face.

2. A toy of the kind described, comprising a one-piece member having atop plate portion and a plurality of circumferentially spaced, bowed,resilient jaws depending therefrom, said jaws being reducingly taperedin width downwardly from said plate portion and the upper ends ofadjacent side edges of adjoining jaws terminating at a common point tothereby provide jaws of maximum strength with sufiiciently large fingeropenings between said jaws.

3. In a toy having a plurality of resilient, longitudinally extending,circumferentially spaced jaws, anti-friction ground-engaging meanscarried by some of said jaws outwardly beyond the latter.

4. In a device of the kind described, a member having a plurality ofresilient jaws integrally depending therefrom, one of said jaws bentrearwardly and outwardly upon itself to form a ballstriking face, and areinforcing pocket in said striking face extending rearwardly toadjacent said respective jaw to strengthen said face and provide a stopagainst said jaw to limit bending movement of said face portion duringstriking.

ALBERT A. ABRAMS.

